More than five years after 328 Birs (or complete copies) of the Guru Granth Sahib were reported missing or destroyed in Punjab, the matter has become a flashpoint between the Aam Aadmi Party government and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC).
The SGPC is the sole official publisher of Birs, and it was from its publication department in Amritsar that copies of the sacred scripture were alleged to be missing first in 2016. A probe in 2020 later showed that even more copies than previously alleged could not be traced.
On Saturday, SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami slammed the AAP government over the registration of an FIR in the case, accusing it of interfering in the administrative rights of the apex gurdwara body to gain “political mileage”. The AAP, in turn, accused the SGPC of not cooperating with the Punjab Police probe.
On December 7, the Punjab Police registered an FIR in the case under Sections covering defiling a place of worship or sacred object, deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings, criminal breach of trust, forgery, and criminal conspiracy.
Sixteen people were named in the FIR, including the SGPC’s former chief secretary and chartered accountant, Satinder Singh Kohli, who was arrested on Thursday. On Saturday, the Special Investigation Team probing the case conducted raids at 15 places, including premises linked to Kohli.
In his statement Saturday, Dhami denied any links to the 16 people named in the FIR. “But the SGPC is involved and the entire record is lying with the Akal Takht… My only point is jurisdiction. It is a matter of jurisdiction of the SGPC,” he said, questioning the summoning of SGPC employees and seeking of records by police.
On December 28, amid renewed protests for answers, five jathedars met at the Akal Takht Secretariat and barred the SGPC from police cooperation.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has said the FIR was filed after several Sikh bodies demanded a probe to find the missing Birs. Asking why the SGPC had failed to find them, he accused it of “using the Akal Takht as a shield” to save those who are close to their “masters”.
Kohli is known to be a close associate of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Sukhbir Singh Badal, and was removed as the SGPC’s internal auditor in 2020 after his alleged negligence was seen as having allowed the mishandling of the Birs to go undetected.
AAP vs SGPC
As the AAP and SGPC clash over the matter, it is not the first such instance, amid political changes in the state and the dwindling clout of the SAD.
What set the tone of their relationship was the Punjab Assembly passing the Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill in 2023 – a year into the AAP coming to power in Punjab for the first time – to ensure the ‘free telecast’ of Gurbani from the Golden Temple.
Mann portrayed the move as meant to end the monopoly of the Badal-linked private channel on Gurbani broadcasting.
Soon after, Mann attacked Badal for sharing SGPC bank account details to seek donations for flood relief work in the state. He called it “shameful” that the SAD leader was doing so rather than an authorized SGPC representative, and said this vindicated the AAP’s stand that one family was controlling the SGPC
Mann has also taken on the SGPC directly, stating more than once that if “golaks (donation boxes)” are removed from gurdwaras, its members would lose interest in serving the community.
Last year, the Mann government and SGPC again locked horns, this time over the observation of the 350th martyrdom anniversary of Guru Tegh Bahadur. The apex Sikh body opposed the parallel functions held by the government to mark it.
Modern Sikh politics began with the establishment of the SGPC in 1920, and the Badal family has derived its influence and power for the last three decades from its hold over the body. Now that it is in an existential crisis, the SAD sees maintaining a majority in the SGPC’s elected house – whose term expired some time back – key to its survival.
The current row has given several Sikh groups hope of capturing the SGPC, with demands rising that the SGPC elections, last conducted in 2011, be held soonest. In fact, the AAP government initiated the process to register SGPC voters last year, though elections are not yet in sight.
Turning up heat
The AAP government is raising momentum on the Bir case at a time when it is facing questions over the fact that its tall promises of prosecuting SAD leaders over several charges – barring former minister Bikram Singh Majithia – have not fructified. Neither has its promise of justice in the Bargari sacrilege case.
Besides, recent results have indicated that the SAD has fight left in it, having finished second in the Tarn Taran by-election held in November, and performing well in Bathinda and Muktsar districts during the December zila parishad elections.
The SGPC is also vulnerable on the Bir issue because of its failure to take conclusive action to “trace them” despite the Akal Takht’s directive. The biggest reason behind the non-closure of the issue remains this.
The case
On June 26, 2020, Punjab Human Rights Organisation activist Sarabjit Singh Verka alleged that the SGPC had hid the destruction of 267 Birs in a 2016 fire at its publication department. Verka claimed the SGPC downplayed the damage as 2016 was an election year, so as to shield the Badals.
The next day, the SGPC admitted that retiring assistant supervisor Kanwaljit Singh, responsible for ledger maintenance, had flagged that 267 Birs were missing from records, but denied any 2016 fire link. On June 29, 2020, Kanwaljit filed a police complaint against SGPC officials for “covering up” the missing Birs.
Over the following fortnight, amid mounting pressure, the SGPC Executive Committee asked then Akal Takht Jathedar to appoint a retired judge or a prominent Sikh personality for a probe. The probe, ordered on July 17, 2020, submitted a 1,000-page report a month later, saying that 328 Birs were actually missing (that is published with permission but untraceable post-printing).
Another 186, it said, were printed without permission using leftover raw material and sold without bills or records.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. (File photo). 
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